Shower      03/29/2019

How to get rid of stumps on your property. Removing old stumps without uprooting

A tree is a helper and faithful companion of a person. Houses made of wood have been built for thousands of years. They are environmentally friendly, durable and beautiful. Wooden house carefully preserves the family hearth for many years. Trees all over the world purify the air people breathe. They are a source of fruit, natural and healthy food. Many insects and birds find their home in trees. Wood is a valuable raw material for industry. Joint landing trees with children is an important educational process. Green friends are a source of aesthetic pleasure.

We can talk endlessly about the role of trees in people's lives. It’s a pity that sometimes, in order to improve cities or garden plots, they have to be destroyed. When a tree is in the way or sick, it would be better to cut it down. If the tree is young, its stump can be uprooted without problems. But, if it is old enough, you have to think carefully about how to destroy the roots of the cut trees. A simple method, suitable for small stumps. The most radical and easiest way is to cut it down to the root. The tree is dug up and the trunk is cut down below ground level. Then sprinkle a layer of soil on top. This method is suitable for trees that do not produce abundant growth. Otherwise, the cut down tree will turn into a lush bush. And it will be quite difficult to remove it. A method that requires a lot of effort.

A reliable and proven technique is uprooting. Most important point- leave the trunk maximum 2 meters long. Then use a shovel to remove the soil around it down to the large roots. In the process, cut down any medium and small roots with a shovel or an ax. When all the roots in the ground have been cut, carefully tilt the upper end of the trunk towards the ground. Then cut the central root and dig out the stump. This method is suitable if the tree Not large sizes with a trunk diameter of 200-400 mm. When a tree is thick, it is very difficult to uproot it. There are only two ways out: uprooting with a winch and chemical method. Let's take a closer look at each of them. using a winch In order to uproot a stump using this method, you will need a winch with a force of at least 2-3 tons. Additionally: a lever, an ax, a hacksaw, a shovel, a strong cable or chain. Leave the trunk at least 1 m high. First, dig around the stump with a shovel at a distance of 1-1.5 m until the roots are exposed. We chop off the roots or cut them with a hacksaw. Then you need to secure the winch to the base of a nearby tree. We fix the rope on a neighboring tree as high as possible. We place a piece of log, any wooden stump, under the stump from the winch side. Now we begin to pull the stump out of the ground using a winch. If you can't do it manually, you can attach the winch to the car. After removing the stump, carefully select the remaining roots from the resulting hole. Fill the hole with soil and plant plants if necessary. This method is suitable for trees of small and medium diameter. Removing stumps using chemical substances If the tree was large during its life, then it is unlikely that you will be able to manually get rid of the stump. Hiring expensive equipment is not always profitable.

There is another way - chemical. Herbicides have been successfully used to remove stumps. They must contain trichlor or glyphosate. This method is best used in the fall. It is necessary to prepare for the process. Take precautions. To do this, you need to purchase safety glasses, rubber gloves, a mask, and comfortable overalls. Cut the trunk of a tree, you can expose and cut the roots on the surface of the earth. In order for the herbicide to work, it is necessary to provide access to living wood. For processing, use a spray gun or brush. Apply the herbicide solution to the bare roots and saw off the trunk. Processing should be carried out several times. Before each treatment, saw off, and freshen the cuts of the roots. So the herbicide will quickly penetrate the wood and destroy the stump. The process of destruction of roots and stump lasts from 5 days to several weeks. You can gradually remove dead roots and parts of the stump. For effectiveness, you can add a little paint or primer to the herbicide solution. Wash the instruments thoroughly after finishing the treatment.

Another way is to use potassium or sodium nitrate. It needs to be used to fill cracks in the stump or additionally drilled holes. Then close the holes and cover the cracks so that precipitation does not wash away the saltpeter. After 1 year, even large stumps become dust and can be burned. This method requires caution. If the root system is branched, or the ground contains peat, then this method is not suitable. Otherwise, a fire may flare up, which will be difficult to extinguish. If you use ammonium nitrate to destroy a stump, you do not need to set it on fire at the end of the process. After all, this type of saltpeter is an excellent fertilizer. A year later, plants can be safely planted in place of the stump. Ecological methods of getting rid of stumps

There are also alternative methods. The people use salt to destroy the stump. It is added to the soil around it. It should be borne in mind that salt will destroy the plants around the stump. Another way is mulching. Dig a small trench around the stump, 15-20 cm deep, and fill it with mulch. Without access to nutrients and air, wood will quickly begin to decompose. The stump will die over time. Sometimes it is not necessary to completely get rid of the stump. Many amateur designers use paint and decorative sculptural elements to create landscape compositions. On the stump you can also "settle" the mycelium of mushrooms, oyster mushrooms, shii-taki. It is enough to buy mycelium and populate the stump. If the mycelium takes root, after 5 years only dust remains from it. Both useful and environmentally friendly.

Another unusual and gentle method. Cut down the old tree at the root, and hollow out a larger hole in the center. “Stuff” it with a mixture of humus, peat, ash and sand. Plant a young seedling in the hole and water it. When young tree will take root and begin to grow, the stump itself will gradually collapse. Removing stumps is sometimes simply necessary; the only advice is to choose more environmentally friendly and gentle methods. Do not forget that this is a living tree, so you need to treat it humanely.

Becoming the proud owner suburban area, a person may suddenly encounter a number of unforeseen problems. And the most common one on the list is how to get rid of stumps without uprooting. The same question will eventually arise for a long-time gardener: trees have a habit of dying, leaving behind stumps of varying sizes.

The fastest and easiest way to clear a site is with the use of heavy equipment. Tractors and bulldozers can cope with the task literally in one day, even if the stump contamination is large. However, hiring equipment is not cheap. In addition, it requires free access and room to maneuver when uprooting. And if the stumps on the site are located in the depths of the garden, then the bulldozer will destroy half of your plantings while it is uprooting them. So this method is only suitable for early stages development of the site and only with a massive “population” of it with stumps.

Manual site clearing is cheap and accessible to anyone, does not require space and is possible even in hard to reach places. However, uprooting is not only a laborious process, but also physically difficult. And the time needed for other purposes will take a lot. So it’s better to study the available methods of how to get rid of stumps without uprooting, choose among them the most optimal one, from your point of view, and apply it without a doubt. Moreover, there are several options for dealing with misfortune.

How to get rid of stumps without uprooting: a mechanical method

The most reliable is the complete removal of wood residues. Firstly, the plot becomes suitable for any use - even plant a vegetable garden, or even put up a gazebo. Secondly, you are insured against attempts to revive: there will definitely not be growth. Crushing stumps with improvised means is ineffective, and in terms of the severity of the work it is no different from uprooting. Therefore, it is better to carry out work with special grinders. They break the stump into sawdust without spoiling the surrounding landscape at all. Such equipment is very expensive, it is better to rent it, since stumps do not have to be removed every day and the equipment is not needed on the farm all the time.

Cheap, but long and not environmentally friendly

If for some reason you cannot or do not want to resort to crushing, you can use chemical method stump removal. The most primitive option is to cover the “rotten tooth” with ordinary salt and wrap it in polyethylene. Not the best good decision Problems. Okay, that’s a long time, all chemical options take time. It’s bad that for many years the land will become unsuitable for growing anything.

Complete destruction

Removing stumps with saltpeter, sodium or potassium would be more environmentally friendly. Firstly, you won’t have to wait two years for the wood to fall apart. Secondly, the roots are also removed. The technique is simple and accessible: holes are drilled in the stump with a drill. The more there are and the deeper they are, the faster it will work. Saltpeter is poured into the holes and filled with water. To prevent all this from leaking out and being washed out, the holes are closed with plugs - wooden plugs, wax, plastic plugs. The top of the stump is watered generously with water.

Manipulations are carried out in the fall: in the spring, the sap flow goes up, so that the roots are not saturated with nitrate. The next year, the plugs are removed, kerosene or gasoline (or even liquid for starting a fire) is poured inside and the stump is set on fire. Everything burns out, including the underground part.

The method is not universal, since it is not always possible to get rid of stumps without uprooting them. If a peatland area is cleared, there is a high probability of an underground fire starting. And in a densely planted garden, the risk of neighboring trees catching fire is quite high.

Fireproof way

In cases where the previous method is not applicable, the approach changes. Nitrate is also used, but this time ammonium nitrate, that is, urea. It is advisable for her to hollow out a recess in the center of the stump as large as possible. A chemical is injected into it, and the stump is wrapped as thoroughly as possible. On the plus side, there is no need for burning; the stump will turn into dust on its own. The downside is that the process will take a very long time. At big cut- up to three years. In addition, after the stump collapses, the soil will not be suitable for all plants for some time.

Mushroom extermination

How to get rid of stumps without uprooting using another method? Those who take good care of the land on their site will prefer the natural method. Yes, it is even longer. But in the process the soil will be enriched with nutrients, and you will receive a pleasant additional bonus. All you need is to buy oyster mushroom mycelium in a special store or collect honey mushroom “seedlings” in the nearest forest. In the stump intended for destruction, holes are drilled into which mushroom “threads” are placed. To prevent them from drying out, the holes are covered with damp moss. Planting is carried out exclusively on a cloudy and cool day. In 4-5 years, the mushrooms will “eat” the stump, and all this time you will have delicious snacks on your table.

We speed up the natural process

A stump overgrown with mushrooms cannot always serve as a decoration for your garden. If you want to preserve the soil on the site, but not spoil it appearance, you can go the following way.

A trench is digging around the stump - it will facilitate further work. Next, using an ordinary chainsaw, the rest of the tree is cut down so that the cut is five centimeters below ground level. The buried stump is covered with soil, but not ordinary soil, but forest soil, taken from under deciduous trees. She in large quantities contains special microorganisms that accelerate the decay of wood. If there is no forest near your dacha (or it is coniferous), use leaf humus from what you probably have. It should be mixed with a couple of glasses of concentrated nitrogen fertilizer and spread over the cut. The top is covered with ordinary garden soil.

It will be even more elegant to destroy the stump if you plan to plant a tree in its place. The beginning is similar: the height of the stump decreases to the maximum, at least level with the bud. The middle is hollowed out and filled with fertilizers mixed with soil. And a young seedling is planted in this “pot”. As it grows, it will destroy both the stump and its root system.

Stump as an element of landscape design

Before looking for a way to get rid of stumps without uprooting, evaluate whether this is really necessary. If the place is not suitable for all plants or is not used at all, the stump can be left. It will make an unusual and harmonious flowerpot for annuals.

This idea is especially good if it’s time for the earth under the stump to rest: the flowers will gradually destroy the wood, and the earth will be saturated with useful elements. You can also make a custom bird feeder. And if a stump has settled on the site of the planned gazebo, then it may well become a support for a garden table.

Often when developing a new territory or when purchasing summer cottage We get the stumps of trees that were once cut down for our load. AND how to remove a stump on a property becomes our problem. Even in a garden grown with your own hands, sooner or later you have to face a situation when you need to remove an old, diseased or damaged tree, and, accordingly, the stump after it. Do it yourself or invite specialists - the choice is yours. In any case, you can’t escape uprooting, and before deciding how to remove the stump, you need to understand some nuances:

  1. The first thing we focus on is this is how much it costs to remove a tree stump, and according to the information received, the final decision is made.
  2. The second important fact arising from the first point will be dimensions of the object to be removed. The more you get the stump, the harder it will be to uproot it, and accordingly it is not always possible to rely only on your own strength, you have to involve special equipment or specialists.
  3. How to properly remove a stump is also an important point. For each specific case, you must select the desired removal method. For example, if you are going to level a construction site, you'd better remove the stumps with a tractor, and when you need to remove a stump in a cramped built-up area, then you have to come up with something else. If you expect to remove the stump yourself, but do not have remarkable strength, then you should consider the chemical method of destruction and so on.
  4. Timing of the operation. How long you are willing to wait for the result may also depend on how you can remove the stump that needs to be applied. If you are ready to wait a year, then you can give preference to chemistry. And when the future garden needs to be rejuvenated this spring, you can find faster options.
  5. How to remove a stump in the country with the involvement of specialists? You call an employee of the company to the object or specify the cost and method by phone. As a rule, in such organizations they will always be happy to tell you how and what to do and will try to explain to you as fully as possible what's what.

"Arborist" - company with many years of experience work, whose specialists can solve any problem related to the remaining stump, shrub or unnecessary tree. For the company's employees, the question of how to remove a tree stump, a bush or the tree itself is not a problem. Many small nuances during work can qualitatively affect the result, therefore, in making a decision, it is advisable to consult directly with professionals.

How to remove tree stumps garden plot?

The whole variety of methods “how to easily remove a large stump” can be divided into three broad categories according to the way the work is done:

  • mechanical;
  • chemical;
  • manual ways to remove the stump.

Each of them has both pros and cons of use, which again depends on the situation of use, terrain, scale of the process, dimensions of the object and site, the degree of damage to the wood, and so on. But let’s start the description with the simplest one, where no special physical expenditures are required on the part of the event participants.

"Arborist" will help solve problems with the disposal of logging waste, which we will quickly remove from the site where the work was carried out. We will remove the garbage even if the main tree removal work was not carried out by us. Our company is engaged in purchasing firewood of various tree species, all we need to do is simply

There are several types of stump removal. Chemical and physical. The former involve various reagents that accelerate the process of barrel destruction. Physical impact on the rest of the tree by force, cutting down. Let's take a closer look at the method of removing stumps without uprooting.

Remaining on personal plot stumps can cause discomfort for a long time. If the trunk and root system are partially alive, the appearance of new shoots is a matter of time. They can appear either from the remnant of the snag itself, or over a distance if the tree was large and the roots became longer. If the stump is in the process of rotting, harmful microorganisms and insects that feed on the wood can cause harm to nearby plants. It takes up quite a lot of space, which would be more expedient to use for new plantings. These are all good reasons to get rid of the remaining wood.

The method of removing stumps by uprooting in some cases has disadvantages:

  • In small densely planted areas, it is sometimes difficult to approach the tree, the use of special tools is limited;
  • The cutting process requires a lot of physical strength;
  • In cases where tools need to be purchased, the no-cutting method may be more economical.

Removal method using herbicides. Fresh tree cuts are treated with the chemical, watered abundantly around, trying to saturate the soil and reach the roots. Also done in the trunk deep holes, 20 cm long, pouring liquid. Wrap the entire protruding part with thick film and secure. Basically, manipulations are done in the fall and wait until spring. During this period, the structure collapses and rots, which makes its removal easy.

Important: herbicides only affect the living part of the tree. When working, follow the instructions and safety rules.

Removing a stump using saltpeter

Sodium or potassium nitrate is poured into densely made holes, up to 30 cm deep. They are sealed with plugs and tightly covered with polyethylene, protecting them from precipitation and snow. Allow to stand from 6 months to one and a half years. For a long time it is due to the gradual impregnation of wood with a reagent. After the stump is thoroughly dried and set on fire, the entire root system gradually burns out.

Important: when working with this type of removal, you need to know the composition of the local soil. Absolutely cannot be used on peat soils. There will be an underground fire that cannot be extinguished.

Ammonium nitrate is used. The method of application is identical to the usual sodium one. Recesses are also drilled in the remainder of the barrel and filled with reagent. In this case, the impact period is 1-2 years.

Important: this type of nitrate does not require burning; it is a chemical reagent that completely decomposes wood in the ground and subsequently serves as a fertilizer.

Using salt to remove a stump

Elimination with salt. The algorithm of actions, as with the previous methods, a large perforation of the trunk is covered with salt, tightly closed with a film, it is possible in several layers. The wood deteriorates in about two years, the remains are easily removed.

Important: for some time the soil will become unsuitable for planting.

Removing stumps without uprooting is an excellent alternative to cutting down. It is enough to understand the effect of all methods on the soil, and choose the option that suits you.

This story will show how in practice to perform a tricky operation to remove a stump without uprooting:

When planning a site, laying out a vegetable garden, creating landscape design local area stumps turn out to be a serious obstacle. Yes, and in the place of a beloved, but obsolete tree, one does not always want to observe its remnant. In such a situation, you need to remove the stump, and it turns out that this can be done in a variety of ways.

The most traditional method is to remove stumps with your own hands. We stock up on the necessary equipment: a shovel, an ax, a saw, a rope. We involve in the undertaking a couple of assistants who have good physical strength. We dig around the stump to a depth of about half a meter. At this stage, the thickest roots will appear; we saw them off or chop them with an ax. We loosen the central part of the stump, and then tie it with a rope and pull it out manually or using a winch. The described process can be greatly simplified if you use a water supply and a hose. First, we dig a hole at a distance of a meter from the stump with a slightly larger volume than the hole around the rest of the trunk. Water will flow here, eroding the soil. Next, we create a strong pressure of the water jet and direct it to the root system. From soft soil, bare roots and the main part of the stump can be removed relatively easily. If the stump is in the way only for aesthetic reasons, it is enough to cut off the visible part of it. We create a small depression around the object and at this level (just below the surface of the soil) we cut off the base with a chainsaw. We lay a layer of soil on top of the wood, sow grass and enjoy the look of a smooth, unbroken lawn.


When there is no opportunity or desire to work physically, special equipment will come to the rescue. A tractor or excavator can easily uproot the stump along with its rhizome system. A forestry cutter (also known as a stump grinder) will quite accurately crush the wood outside and under the surface of the soil, resulting in sawdust and dust. The obvious disadvantage of such “workers” is the high cost of their rent. In addition, the method is suitable only for those stumps to which equipment can freely pass through the site. One of the most modern methods combating wood residues - the use of various chemicals. The following tools have proven themselves well:
  • Potassium, sodium nitrate. We drill deep holes along the entire cut of the stump, fill them with saltpeter, pour plenty of water on top and cover them plastic film. It is better to do the procedure in the fall to leave the stump covered until spring. During this time, the wood will be saturated with the substance and will partially decompose; all we have to do is set fire to the rotten stump. Along with the above-ground part, the root will also burn out, since saltpeter releases a lot of oxygen. Removing a stump by arson can be done on clay or sandy soil, but on peat soil such an undertaking will be very dangerous.
  • Ammonia fertilizer (urea). It is laid in the same way as saltpeter, covered with film, but fire is not used here. Disposal will take longer, but after this time the treated area will become very fertile.
  • General herbicide. Removes weeds and stumps along with the roots. The chemical should be used according to the manufacturer's instructions. Most herbicides are harmless to the soil; after their use, new crops can be planted immediately.
Not only active chemical compounds, but even table salt can split the stump. According to the principle described above, drill holes in the cut, add salt, pour water, and cover. After 1-2 years, the wood will turn into dust. The disadvantage of this approach is the excessive salinity of the soil, which is why plants will not take root here for some time.

When you are just planning to remove a stump, it is important to take into account all aspects of the work ahead: which method is more acceptable, what will be located in the place of the old wood and whether fertile soil is needed here, how feasible the whole undertaking is. With a correct assessment of the situation and thorough preparation, getting rid of the stump will go correctly and smoothly.